Structure-diversified terpenoids from Salvia prattii and their protective activity against alcoholic liver diseases.

Eleven previously unreported compounds (1-11), including five diterpenoids (1-5) and six sesquiterpenoids (6-11), together with two known diterpenoids (12-13), have been isolated from the roots of Salvia prattii. Their structures were comprehensively elucidated through spectroscopic methods, and their configurations were established using computational 13C nuclear magnetic resonance and electronic circular dichroism. Compound 1 was found to be an abietane-type diterpenoid with a novel rearrangement generated from the cleavage of the C-4/5 chemical bond, 20-methyl shift, and the rearrangement of the C-10 side chain. Compounds 2-3 were the third and fourth examples of arrangement seco-norabietanes with a spiro-lactone ring. We evaluated all compounds for their protective effects against alcoholic liver diseases (ALD). Compound 2 exhibited potential protective activity and hence can be used as a novel anti-ALD candidate.

Arbutin Alleviates LPS Induced Sepsis Pneumonia in Mice.

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of arbutin (AR) on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced sepsis pneumonia. LPS-induced mice and A549 cells were used to establish septic pneumonia model. AR significantly decreased lung wet-to-dry weight (W/D) ratio, lung myeloperoxidase (MPO) activity and ameliorated lung histopathological changes. In addition, AR increased super oxide dismutase (SOD) activity, decreased malondialdehyde (MDA) content and levels of cytokines including tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin-1ß (IL-ß) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) in mice. Furthermore, the results demonstrated that AR inhibited the JAK2/STAT3/NF-κB pathway in LPS-induced A549 cells which was further confirmed by siRNA JAK2 experiment. The experimental results indicated that the protective mechanism of AR on sepsis pneumonia might be attributed partly to the inhibition of cytokine production and JAK2/STAT3/NF-κB pathway.

Sesquiterpene dimers from Chloranthus fortunei and their protection activity against acute lung injury.

Chloranthus fortunei (family Chloranthaceae), a perennial herb, widely distributed in south China with an altitude of 170-340 m. The whole plants were used as an anti-inflammatory agent for the treatment of cough, arthritis and tumor. Five previously unreported compounds fortulactones A-E were isolated from the aerial part of Chloranthus fortunei. Their structures were elucidated using 1D/2D NMR and HRESIMS and their absolute configuration were determined using the ECD excitron chirality method. All isolates were tested for inhibitory effects on the NO production of liposaccharide (LPS)-induced RAW 264.7 macropahges. The most potent compound 1 was further evaluated its protective activity against LPS stimulated A549 cells, the ELISA kits results showed the abnormal states of MDA and SOD were corrected to a certain extent. Meanwhile, the pro-inflammatory cytokine, such as TNF-α, IL-6 and IL-1ß were also attenuated. In conclusion, these results showed that 1 exhibited therapeutic potential for ameliorating ALI.